Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-15
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Descriptions of Practical Discoveries Co
densed for Practical Readers.

; Professor TroWbriGge's plan of subms
, rine telephony, in which speech was to b
transmitted between vessels at sea with
out the aid of any connecting WIRE ha
been abandoned as impracticabIe, an
the system upon which Mr.. Edison ha
been experimenting in Florida is NOR
promising of good results. In this sys.
tenn the telephone signals, by long an
short explosive sounds instead of b
spoken words and communications, hav
been successfully exchanged through tn
water between vessels from three to fou
miles apart, with the prospect that the
working limit may be increased with i'm.
provement in the apparatus II Electrical
/ Review.
Grabs, which are supposed to shed theil
shells every year, do not often shed them
after they have attained their full size
and the creatures become victims to bar
nacles and slI sorts of marine growths
that fasten themselves upon the shell. A
/ remarkable example of this may be seen
/ in the British Museum, where has been
/ placed an old crab of the edible species,
with some half dozen large oysters
fixed to its back, which load, ever in
creasing, the old crab was doomed to
carry to the end of its days. Another
curious specimen preserved is that of &
hairy crab, which, though not larger it
self than walnut, is saddled with q
sponge as Dig as mans fist.
Cation has pointed out some very curl
Gus facts concerning the children of pro-
fessional men. He found, from study
of the heredity of the members of some
of the largest scientific societies of Lon
don, that the legal profession presented
the most eminent men and the fewest
idiots. The medical profession came
next; and lastly Clergymen, who pro-
duced the smallest number of eminent
men and the largest number of idiots and
feeble-minded. The lawyers gave origin
TO six times as many eminent men as The
clergy. The clergy gave origin to six
times as many idiots and feeble-minded
as the lawyers.
N. Ligner, an Austrian meteorological,
claims to have asCertsined, after careful
investigation, that the moon has an in
fuence on msgnetiZed needle varying
with its phases and its destinations. The
phenomenon is SAID to be more prOmi-
nen,Iy noticeable when the moon is near
earth, and to be very marked when she
is passing from the full TO her first or sec
ond quarter. The disturbances are found
to be at their maximum when the moon
is in the plane of the equator, and greater
during the southern than it is during the
northern declination.
To make positive copies of drawings,
coat suitable paper with = per cent. So
luton of bicnrOmate of ammonia, to
which little grape sugar has been sdd-
ed, and dry IN the dark. The paper cou-
tanning the drawing is laid upon it and
exposed 10 the light until the prepared
paper has assumed gray color; now dip
into g l per cent. solution OF nitrate of
silver, one-tenth Of the volume of which
consists of scetic acid. The positive
image developed thereby consists of BIZ
chromete of silver, which becomes dark
brown on drying.
1t is generally supposed that pneumo-
nia is due TO the accidental penetration of
specific microbes into the system, but the
observations of NJ. Jaccoud, g French
student OK the subject, show that the dis
ease really results from the development
under favorable conditions of microbiC
germs permanently present in the sys-
TEN. A chief condition Of such develop
ment is a sudden chill, which explains the
frequent coincidence of lung affections
with abrupt changes of temperature.
This was the way country blacksmith
was seen removing that portion of an ak
handle from an ak that remained in the
eye, the break being close to the iron:
The wood could not be driven out, and,
as nails had been driven in at the end,
could not be bored out. He drove the
bit of sharp edge into some moist earth
and then built fire around the project
Ing part. The wood was soon Charred so
that it was easily removed. The moist
earth so protected the tempered part OF
the aX that it sustained no in jury.
Browning" oranges grown in the
West Indies and Mexico, so that they
shsll pass muster as real Florida fruit, is
the device OF en- enterprising Yankee.
The process consists of putting the fruit
into large sieve and passing it over a
hot fire until the oranges contained
therein are sufficiently scorched, techni-
cally "browned," TO give the true Florida
tinge, which is peculiar to that delicious
orange. The "browned" fruit is mostly
shipped north and west.
The heat Of fire is very likely to put a
piano out Of tone. This is not due to the
expanding and contracting OF the strings,
as generally supposed, but to the varia-
tons produced IN the soundlng-boards
under the influence of the increased dry
ness of the air, especially in furnace
heated houses. Sounding-bOards are
made of spruce, because of the superior
resonance Of that timber; but spruce of
all woods, is most affected by changes in
temperature.
1t often is desirable to make eXCava-
tons for pipes in very cold weather,
when the earth is frozen. The Electricita
says that quick lime has been tried for
tnaWing the surface with success. The
ground 10 be dug is covered with alter
uate layers Of lime and snow. The slack
ing lime heats the soil so effectually that
after ten or fifteen hours it may be re-
moved with ease.
One who claims TO have tried it says
that rubber may be fastened TO iron by
means Of paint composed of powdered
shellac stepped in about ten times its
weight of concentrated ammonia. 1t
should be allowed TO stand three or four
weeks before being used.
new theory of the final destruction
of the earth is that the polar ice is pene-
trating the interior OF the globe like a
wedge, and that as soon as it reaches the
furnace there will DE an explosion that
will split the world into piecestoe small
for truck patches. K -